Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Education: Wellesley College, English Major
Before Wharton: CNN (Producer, “Nancy Grace”), Court TV (Associate Producer); newspaper reporter in Manchester, CT
After Wharton: Marketing Strategy
My Day at a Glance
Naomi Goldstein
My Story About Me
Wharton has a reputation of being a finance-driven banker school, but there is a small but mighty group of us planning to go into media and entertainment.
Opportunities are endless
From day one, you have a zillion opportunities to be a leader. And with so many leadership opportunities, if you don’t get one leadership chance, there’s another right around the corner.
Media & Entertainment at Wharton
Wharton has a reputation of being a finance-driven banker school, but there is a small but mighty group of us planning to go into media and entertainment. The media and entertainment alums of Wharton are high up in companies. This past fall, I was one of the co-leaders for the Media and Entertainment trek to New York.
We led a group of people whose responsibility was setting up meetings at various companies with top executives. In the end, we set up a day where 45 students went to New York and met with eight different companies, including HBO, MTV, NBC and The New York Times.
Learning how to balance
The entire trek was a huge undertaking, especially for someone who is brand new to school and still learning the ropes. That’s Wharton for you. Everything is thrown at you at once, but that teaches you to prioritize and to learn how to balance. You can’t do it all, but you can certainly do a lot. It’s not just there for show; you’re doing the work.
How I’ve changed
I’ve learned that I really can not do it all alone, and that some people are better than I am in certain areas. I’ve learned that I’m a big thinker but not the best at tactical approaches – so I’ve learned to seek out people who are better at tactics than I am. Since everyone from Wharton has such a different background, I’ve learned to adapt to working with people – especially in the learning team environment. You have completely different backgrounds and completely different futures. You have nothing in common except getting the work done. You have to learn how to work together quickly and efficiently.
More than a stamp on the resume
I came in thinking Wharton would just be a stamp on the resume, thinking I’d get my MBA and it would look good to the outside world. What I was not expecting was the amount of personal growth I achieved here, the amount of confidence I gained. The type of leadership positions that people put you in from day one, you realize so much is expected of you. But you are surrounded by people who support you.
Finding other nontraditional students and getting that support system, was a real ‘moment for me. There are more of us here than we think, and we are a growing community.
A Wharton moment
I had a creative background – I worked in journalism both as a newspaper reporter and as a producer on CNN. Coming into a classroom where there are all of these consultants and bankers, it was very intimidating. Then, I was paired with a second year student in the Marketing Club who had a similar journalism background, and talking with her about how I felt really helped. What she told me was that I thought differently, and that was something that was valued here.
Finding other nontraditional students and getting that support system, was a real 'moment' for me. There are more of us here than we think, and we are a growing community. It was great to find a group I could relate to and see where I fit in. I also realized how much our nontraditional group contributes to the Wharton community. That was a turning point for me.
